US-DPRK Relations

THAAD is a hot issue in South Korea today. There is conflict over the safety of the system, as well as popular anger at the government’s failure to consult the public at either the local or national level prior to announcing THAAD deployment. This has reinvigorated concerns over the relationship between democracy and the core tenets of the US-ROK alliance. Darcie Draudt investigates.

Il Hyun Cho argues that the “rogue state” narrative is not wholly global, but is largely a creation of US security concerns in tandem with the role conceptions of regional actors. Van Jackson and Daniel Wertz consider the proposition in this roundtable review.

In response to sanctions on South Korean business and Pyongyang’s will to export more labor, the focus of inter-Korean exchange has shifted to the city of Dandong, “another Kaesong Industrial Complex,” according to anthropologist Kang Ju-won. Christopher Green looks at Kang’s recent article on Pressian.

This piece of (recent) history by Morgan Potts explores the tensions of the 2013, when Robert King’s invitation to Pyonyang was rescinded, examining what could have been a turning point for US-DPRK relations that was lost amidst other diplomatic crises.

“The Interview” has been met in South Korea with strident criticism for lampooning elements of Korean culture, with some netizens accusing producer Sony of deliberately seeking to undermine Korean claims to the Dokdo islets and the naming of the East Sea/Sea of Japan. Christopher Green translates.

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What is Sino-NK?

Sino-NK is a scholarly collective of young Sinologists and Koreanists dedicated to documenting and analyzing the borderland dynamics, transnational ties, and history of Northeast Asia. Sino-NK has been quoted in such outlets as The Economist, Washington Post, Politico, and Wall Street Journal, and is utilized frequently by scholars and journalists. Sino-NK endeavors to better understand North Korea’s relations with the world and to chart a path forward for digital (and) academic analysis.